“Jes’ talkn’ about old leather boots, worn and weathered.”
Vintage leather ‘n lace.
Would you call these old shoes collectibles? Unappealing to some no doubt but very appealing to me. I have collected these few pairs.
Rich and textured.
Construction boots, work boots, farm boots, fashion, punk or rocker boots, maybe a pair of army boots in the lot.
I wonder who trod in them? Were they worn in a life of hard, gruelling days of slow wearisome toil?
What journey of crops, dust and dirt did these boots tread?
Perhaps worn by a young farmer in open-necked shirt and wide-brimmed hat. Perhaps they belonged to a young punk rocker.
Perhaps worn in combat by a young soldier.
Perhaps the gardener wore them or a labourer in the vineyards here, toiling up and down the miles and miles of long contoured rows, back and forth . . . . .
Old leather boots often became very personal to the wearer as they were worn and worn, repaired and repaired.
Curled up from wear, from moisture. Weathered and distressed. Tried and tested they sit outside in the veranda area now. Sometimes, lightly cobwebbed by spiders living in their dark recesses.
Sometimes I hang a pair from a veranda rafter or on the old post.
I found a discarded roll of thin leather strapping for lacing where needed.
What do the soles of these shoes bear witness to I wonder?
Not spared all the wear upon them, though, as the leather and soles remain sturdy as does the stitching so could be plenty of wear left in them (once the spiders are evicted).
Left on the veranda, they can be endearing for me.
Sometimes, if I inhale deeply and half close my eyes, I think back to growing up on the farm and seeing Dad’s well worn work boots by the back door ready for his early morning start the next morning. Always the same. A man of the land was Dad.
Ah, Loui Jover’s art again. Yes, I’m a fan as in this earlier post.
